Fallen Arise

Family Matters: Improved

Aurora moved onto the sofa, sinking into the cushions and feeling the comfort she dreamt of all day.

"What's for tea?" She asked, peeling the wrapper off a chocolate bar.

Dad looked up at her over the top of his book, the cover blue and worn.

"Spaghetti," He informed, putting his book down.

"Did you talk to Jason today?" She asked just as Luce sat down.

"I haven't seen him all day, he's had a 12 hour shift," Daniel told her.

Jason had been living with them for longer than Aurora could remember which must be at least three years -she has a horrible memory. He felt like a constant and unrelenting presence in her life and her heart couldn't help but beat a little faster when her imagination got away from her. Since puberty, he's grown and gotten so beautiful Aurora could hardly look at him. It was safe to say, their relationship wasn't the same as it used to be.

"Oh," She sighed "I wanted to talk to him"

Dad smiled, "He'll be back soon," He assured.

"Let's just hope he hadn't gone on a walkabout," Luce pondered, sitting up on the chair she leant to grab the remote before turning onto the news.

Aurora thought about what she just said with panic skirting her mind, she knew him well enough to know he did that sometimes. He used to go off alone, he said it was part of his demonic nature that turned him into a wanderer, but it annoyed Aurora to think that he thought he could leave whenever he wanted without saying anything. It worried her.

"He's been doing that a lot lately," Luce thought aloud

"We don't know that he'd doing it right now," Aurora reminded, always on his side.

"He'll be home soon," She assured, more for herself than for them.

After tea, she made her way upstairs, it wasn't even six yet and the sun still shone down through the skylights in the front room but the day had taken all of the energy out of her.. She was a teenager, she was supposed to close herself in a room and never talk to her parents, she it made her feel better about doing it so much.

Sometimes when she has nothing to do she feels bad that she's not living the same lives her parents. The most exciting she's ever done is run down a school corridor.

People tell her that she's lucky to be alive, but all Aurora can feel is the burden. She hears practically everyday the stories of the battle and the eternal love she can only loathe in secret. Not to be disrespectful or ungrateful, but how would you feel if people talked about your parents all the time, often, she feels like a third wheel only in the weirdest way possible.

With Jason around her don't have to act, but she can't help but feel that she don't match up.

Her room is where she reads, that and watch tv. Her room is a collection of things she's picked up at the beach, jars of sand, peculiar stones she took from the sand- hung from the ceiling on coloured string. She has a glass prism that swings in front of the floor to ceiling window in the corner that throws rainbows across walls. A mural her Dad painted when she was born hangs on the wall. Here the beach is her backyard.

She sits for a while, reading books about demons she hasn't met yet, ignoring the fact that she has homework until she hears the floor door slam. The sound of it echoing through the house like a gunshot.

"My bad!" I hear someone shout.